Once again it is recap time. If you belong to the lucky ones who recently received a new Wacom Intuos, you will also be able to unleash your creativity with Corel Painter Essentials. With this powerful top of the line software at your fingertips, you will be creating, if not miraculously conjuring, inspiring artwork. No doubt about that. All you need to know, is how to use it and how to get started with your Intuos.
Set up your device & install software
First things first. Obviously, you need to connect your tablet to your computer. Then, you will need a driver for your device so your tablet and your computer speak the same language. If the installation interface does not prompt you directly to it, you can get your drivers here. Of course, you could purchase the Corel Painter Essentials software, but as an Intuos owner you don’t have to. Consider it a gift from us to Intuos users, to help bring more creativity to the world.
If you want to redeem your free Corel Painter Essentials software, the automation process will ask you to create your Wacom ID (or log in if you already have one) here and register your device. Once done you can download Corel Painter Essentials. This video quickly demonstrates this process:
How to use Corel Painter Essentials
There are several videos on the internet to help you get started with your (new) Intuos and Corel Painter Essentials once installed. We have shared some of those with you in the past and now would be a great time for a quick reminder.
Painter Essentials 6 Interface intro
Davey Baker showed us in this post how to create a concept art landscape with Corel Painter Essentials and his Intuos. In case you are not yet familiar with the interface of Corel Painter Essentials, the first video of his process gives quite some good impressions. If you want to follow his complete creation process, just read this post.
After you followed Davey connecting the device and using Corel Painter Essentials, you are ready for the 5-steps series by Aaron Blaise, a legendary artist, who also works with an Intuos tablet and uses Corel Painter Essentials. In these videos Aaron explains very thoroughly, what he does and why, so you could easily follow along at your own pace with your own ideas. If you want to know more about Aaron Blaze and our last year’s post, just follow this link.
Step 1: Concept & Rough Drawing in Corel Painter Essentials
Aaron shows you, where to click and what to do, to open a new document. Also, he gives you some tips on how to position your device and how to easily create a rough draft including how to resize parts of it.
Step 2: Refining a Drawing in Painter Essentials
Hope you had fun drawing your rough draft? Then it’s time to refine. Aaron tells you, how he does it providing you some tips that make your creation process more efficient. Along the way, you will also hear how to expand your own visual library. Just watch and find out.
Step 3: Roughing in Color in Painter Essentials
Great – you refined your rough draft – how about adding some color to it? Let’s just do it roughly as you already did with your rough draft and refine later. Watching this video, besides adding new layers for the components of your painting, Aaron has some great tips on how to draw sky and vary color-structures and a lot more.
Step 4: Creating Shadows & Highlights in Painter Essentials
Look at your artwork, you’re already pretty much there. What makes your piece of art more dynamic, is shadows and highlights. Here, Aaron has some very useful tips on how to easily bring shadows and highlights into your drawing.
Step 5: Adding Finishing Details in Painter Essentials
Yey, you’re almost done. If you had not been overly detailed, now’s the time for it. Redefine your rough colors, shadows and highlights. Add some textures and get yourself comfy with your final artwork. Just watch Aaron finish this artwork and listen to his tips on details – some of which you may not have been aware of.
Are you content with your final artwork? Well done. If not, don’t hesitate to practice some more. You will see, the more you practire – regularly – the better your outputs will be, just as you will be more content. In case you need some more inspiration, tips and tricks, just proceed reading.
Tips & Tricks with Corel Painter Essentials
If you are curious for more information and insights, please find other blog posts in our channel.
These might be of interest to you, but feel free to find your inspiration in our blog.
